


to the end of time

by clairevergreen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: HPFT, Drama, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Hogwarts Era, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Female Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, Post-Hogwarts, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 18:37:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6435790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clairevergreen/pseuds/clairevergreen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Friends til the end, remember?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hi, I'm Lavender. It's Parvati, right?"

“It’ll be fine, just relax.”

Parvati glanced over at her sister as they were herded into the Great Hall with all the other first years. Every single eye in the Hall was on them as they all trooped over to the three-legged stool that sat in the middle of the Hall. “You don’t know that,” she whispered back as all of the first years came to a halt.

Padma started to say something else, but she was cut off as everyone in the room fell silent when Professor McGonagall placed the raggedy old hat she was carrying on the stool. Parvati glanced around, jumping when the brim of the hat split open and started singing. “Is it really singing?” she whispered to her sister.

“Shh,” Padma hissed, her eyes fixed on the hat as it continued to rabble on about the different Houses and their traits. Parvati sighed and looked down at her hands, twisting the edge of her robe as she waited for the song to finish.

As it ended, the whole Hall burst into applause and the first years joined in rather half-heartedly. Parvati watched as Professor McGonagall stepped up to the stool as the noise died down and instructed them to step up to the stool as she called their names. 

“Abbott, Hannah” was the first one called up and every single one of the first years were silent as they watched the redheaded girl sit down and have the Sorting Hat placed on her head. After just a few seconds, the brim of the Hat ripped open again and shouted out “HUFFLEPUFF,” causing one of the tables to burst out in applause. 

“Padma,” Parvati whispered as “Bones, Susan” was called up to the front. “What if we aren’t placed in the same House?” Padma opened her mouth, but closed it again as the Hufflepuff table erupted in applause again and “Boot, Terry” was called up.

“We will be,” Padma said after the boy was placed in Ravenclaw. “And if we aren’t it won’t be the end of the world. Now, shh, I want to watch.” Parvati went to say something else, but changed her mind and turned back to the Sorting just as “Brown, Lavender” was placed into Gryffindor. 

She fidgeted as the professor continued to run down the roster, calling everyone up one at a time. Sometimes the Hat chose immediately and other times, it would be minutes before it yelled out a House. When she glanced around, she noticed the others shifting around, sometimes whispering to someone if they knew them. She turned back to face the stool as they got closer and closer to the Ps. All too soon, “Parkinson, Pansy” was being sent over to the Slytherin table and Professor McGonagall was calling out the next name.  
“Patil, Padma.” Parvati felt her sister tense up next to her and she reached down to give her hand a squeeze before she had to walk up in front of the school. She watched with bated breath as Padma sat down on the stool and McGonagall placed the Hat on her head. The whole Hall was silent for a minute before the brim ripped open and announced, “RAVENCLAW!”

Parvati tried to clap along with the people at the Ravenclaw table, but she could feel a knot in her stomach and her heart pounding in her chest. She barely heard her name being called and felt herself walking forward and sitting down on the stool. The Hat slipped down over her eyes and she sat frozen.

At once, she could hear a voice in her ear. “ _Ah, yes…There’s loyalty here, no doubt about it…and I can see that you can be daring if you wanted to be…I know exactly where to put you._ ” She squeezed her eyes shut, still hoping that she would somehow get Sorted with her sister. 

“GRYFFINDOR!” Her heart sank as she heard what she assumed was the Gryffindor table explode into applause. The Hat was pulled off her head and she quickly made her way over to the cheering table, trying to keep from looking over at the Ravenclaw table. 

She sat down next to a blonde girl she slightly recognized from earlier and tried to keep the frown off her face as people congratulated her. As everyone went back to watching the ceremony, the blonde girl leaned over to talk to her. “Hi, I’m Lavender,” she said, smiling at Parvati. “It’s Parvati, right?”

She nodded, giving a half-hearted smile back. “Yeah,” she said and despite her efforts, her eyes traveled over to the Ravenclaw table again. 

“Your sister was Sorted into Ravenclaw, wasn’t she?” Lavender asked, drawing Parvati’s attention back to her. Before she could say anything else, one of the professors – she assumed that it was Professor Dumbledore – at the head table stood up and began to give some sort of speech. She sat quietly through the whole thing and as soon as the professor sat down, food appeared on the plates in front of them.

“Excellent,” she heard one of the first year boys say as they helped themselves to whatever food was in front of them. “I could get used to this.” She saw Lavender roll her eyes.

“It’s like he’s never seen food before,” Lavender said, glancing over at Parvati who had been looking over to the Ravenclaw table again. She gave another half-hearted smile before turning back to her plate. 

“Are you two close?” Lavender asked, causing her to look up again. Lavender nodded over to the other table. “You and your sister?”

Parvati nodded. “Yeah, we are,” she answered, picking at her food. “More like friends than sisters.” 

Lavender nodded again and took another bite. “I’m sorry you two got stuck in different Houses,” she said and Parvati just looked down at her plate. “But you’ll still get to see her and now you get to make even more friends.”

Parvati glanced over at the blonde girl and couldn’t help but smile when she saw the eager expression on her face. “So I guess you’ll be the first?”

The smile on Lavender’s face seemed to grow even more, if that was even possible at that point. “Well, of course!” she said, causing Parvati to laugh. As they fell into a conversation, Parvati couldn’t help but think that Padma had most certainly been right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! So this story is going to be a series of one-shots exploring the relationship between Lavender and Parvati. I've never attempted to write either one of these characters, but I'm so excited to write this! It's probably only going to be seven or eight chapters long if everything goes to plan, but I hope you enjoy it anyways! As always, please don't hesitate to leave a review!


	2. Bracelets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, I only got one for you, so I couldn’t give it to you in front of everyone else,” Lavender explained, rolling her eyes. “But I saw them in a shop my mum dragged me to over the holiday and I had to get them.”

“Guess what I got!”

Parvati looked up just in time to pull her feet out of the way as Lavender jumped onto her bed with an excited expression. “What are you talking about?” Parvati said as Lavender started digging around in her pockets. “We just saw each other three minutes ago. Why couldn’t you show me then?”

“Well, I only got one for you, so I couldn’t give it to you in front of everyone else,” Lavender explained, rolling her eyes. “But I saw them in a shop my mum dragged me to over the holiday and I had to get them.” Parvati was about to ask her what exactly ‘them’ was when Lavender finally pulled them out of her pockets.

“Tada!” she said, holding out the two bracelets with a grin on her face. 

“Aw, they’re so pretty!” Parvati said as Lavender handed one of them to her. The thick silver chain held an elegant charm in the shape of P with a small purple stone in the middle of it.

“I know, I saw them and I begged my mum to get them,” she answered. “An L with a blue stone for me and a P with a purple one for you! I was going to send it to you, but I wanted to give it to you in person.”

Parvati smiled and looked down at the bracelet in her hand, noticing something when she went to put it on. “It’s a little big, isn’t it?” she asked, holding up the silver chain that looked like it would have been more like a small necklace than a bracelet. Lavender grinned and took it from her. 

“That’s cause it’s magic,” she said simply. “Give me your hand.” Parvati held out her hand and Lavender took it, slipping the bracelet over her wrist. It hung there for a second and Parvati gave Lavender a look. She held up a finger as if to say ‘one second’ and Parvati rolled her eyes, but looked back down. All of a sudden, she felt the bracelet heat up and within a few seconds, it had shrunk down to fit her wrist perfectly. “It won’t come off unless you want it to,” Lavender continued as Parvati twisted it around on her wrist. “That way it won’t ever fall off.” 

To prove Lavender’s point, Parvati started shaking her arm around, but no matter what she did, the bracelet barely moved on her wrist. Once she was finished, she shifted on the bed so she could give Lavender a hug. “It’s perfect,” she said. “Thank you.” She pulled back and took the other bracelet from Lavender. “Here, let me put yours on.” She watched as Lavender held up her wrist, admiring the bracelet.

“There,” she said, putting her arm down and looking at Parvati with a smile on her face, “now everyone will know we’re best friends.” The smile faltered a bit and she suddenly got a serious look in her eyes. “Friends til the end, right?” Parvati looked down at the bracelet on her wrist before glancing back up at Lavender’s expectant expression.

“Friends til the end.”


	3. Just a Phase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a little part of her that hoped it wasn’t just a phase.

“Alright, who’s next?”

Mandy, one of Padma’s roommates, looked around at the other six girls who were spread out in front of the fire in the Hufflepuff common room. It was already one in the morning and they were the only ones left still awake, everyone else either asleep or driven out of the common room by the seven giggling girls. Parvati reached for some of the food one of the older students had grabbed from somewhere as Mandy continued to look around the circle.

“Susan,” she finally said, zeroing in on the redhead. Susan shifted as the other girls started giggling again. “So who do you fancy?” Mandy asked, raising her eyebrow.  
Parvati watched as Susan shifted some more. “No one,” Susan said, but it was obvious by the tone of her voice and the blush that was creeping up her face that she was lying. 

“Well that’s not true,” Lavender said, echoing Parvati’s thoughts. “Your face is as red as your hair.”

“Come on, just tell us who he is,” Isobel, another one of Padma’s roommates, encouraged. Hannah, Susan’s roommate, nodded in agreement while Padma just watched in amusement. 

“I’ve told, Lavender’s told, Hannah’s told,” Mandy listed off. “Come on, don’t be a chicken.” Parvati could see how uncomfortable Susan was with the whole conversation, but she wasn’t about to jump in and say anything. As embarrassed as she was sure Susan felt, she was positive that if she said anything about who she liked, it would be a whole lot worse for her than it would be for Susan.

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you,” Susan said, snapping Parvati out of her thoughts. “But you can’t tell anyone.” All of the girls nodded and leaned forward. Susan took a deep breath before saying, “I really like Ernie.” She said it in such a rush that it took Parvati a second to work out what she said. 

“Ernie Macmillan?” Padma asked and when Susan nodded, everyone started squealing.

“Oh, my gosh, you two would be so cute!” Mandy said, just as Hannah told her that she should have said something earlier.

“Okay, keep your voice down,” Susan said, throwing a glance towards the dormitories. “Someone else go now so we don’t wake anyone up.”

“Alright, fine,” Lavender said as they all quieted down, some of them reaching for more food. “Parvati.” She froze with her hand halfway to the pile of food and turned to look at her friend. Lavender grinned and said, “So who do you like?’

Parvati’s mind was racing as she tried to figure out how to respond. “I-I, uh…um,” she stuttered, still trying to get her thoughts together. She twisted the bracelet on her arm as the other six gave her expectant looks.

“There has to be some guy that’s caught your eye,” Isobel said and Parvati bit her lip. _Well, they’re definitely not a guy_ , she thought and despite her best efforts, she couldn’t help but glance over at Lavender. She wasn’t sure exactly what caused it to happen, but at some point in the last few months, she realized that the way she felt about her best friend was less like the way she should feel and more like the way Lavender said she felt about the various boys she had a crush on.

“Well?” Mandy prodded and Paravti looked back up at the rest of the girls. She met Padma’s gaze and her sister gave her a strange look before Parvati ducked her head. The girls continued to prod her until she just blurted out the first name that came to her mind.

“Harry,” she said and as soon as it came out, the rest of the girls got silent. Padma raised her eyebrow questioningly while everyone else just sat there with shocked expressions on their faces.

“Wait, you have a crush on Harry Potter?” Mandy asked, finally breaking the silence. “ _The_ Harry Potter?”

“Is there another Harry Potter who goes to this school?” Susan interrupted, causing Hannah and Isobel to laugh. Parvati stayed quiet as they started discussing exactly why he was the perfect guy (“I mean, did you hear about how he killed that Basilisk last year?) and she fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist.

“So since when do you like Harry?” Lavender said, elbowing her in the side to get her attention. “You’ve never said anything before.” 

Parvati shrugged and tried to act casual, but on the inside she was freaking out. “It’s just a new thing,” she said, hoping that it wasn’t obvious she wasn’t actually talking about Harry. “Probably just a phase.” Lavender nodded and turned back to where they were trying to convince Padma that she couldn’t just not like anyone. Parvati bit her lip again and tried to get back into the conversation. Throughout the rest of the night, she couldn’t help but sneak glances over to Lavender and every now and then, there was a little part of her that hoped it wasn’t just a phase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case you were wondering, all of the girls in this come from JKR's list of students. Mandy Brocklehusrt and Isobel MacDougal are both Ravenclaws in the same year as Parvati and Lavender and then you already know Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones :)


	4. The Yule Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Care to dance, m’lady?”

“Care to dance, m’lady?”

Parvati looked up to see Lavender smiling at her, her hand outstretched. Parvati grinned and took her friend’s hand as Lavender pulled her out onto the dance floor. “What are you doing?” she asked as Lavender spun her around.

“Rescuing you, of course,” she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Unless, I was wrong and you’d rather go back…”

“No,” Parvati said quickly, causing the smile on her friend’s face. “Merlin, no, that was awful. I didn’t come to a ball just to sit around and listen to Ron Weasley mope about Hermione coming with Viktor Krum.”

Lavender laughed, but Parvati saw her eyes flash over to where Harry and Ron were still sitting. The smile that had been on Parvati’s face faltered slightly. Lavender’s crush on Ron was no secret to her and that fact that Parvati had agreed to set Padma up with him in the first place had caused more than one argument between the two of them, even though Lavender had already said yes to Seamus. Like most of their arguments, though, it had blown over rather quickly as soon as Parvati brought up the silly “friends til the end” promise they had made back in second year. 

As she followed Lavender’s gaze, Parvati knew that even if Lavender didn’t have a crush on Ron, she wouldn’t have had a chance in hell with her. Still, there was a small part of her that hoped her friend’s crush had run its course.

“Earth to Parvati.” She blinked and looked back at Lavender who was grinning again. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back?” she teased.

Parvati shook her head, forcing the smile back on her face. “Of course not. Dancing with you is way more fun.” She paused for a second and glanced around. “Hey, what happened to Seamus? Didn’t you two come together?”

Lavender nodded. “Yeah, but he went off with Dean a few minutes before I saved you. Apparently Dean came with some Beauxbatons girl and she ditched him for her friends. I’ll find him later.”

Parvati nodded and fell silent as they continued to dance, Lavender prattling on about who was wearing what and ‘did you see Eloise Midgen’s hair’ and ‘can you believe that Ginny came with Neville?’ Normally she would have been all over Lavender’s gossip, adding in her own thoughts and comments (‘I can’t believe that Ginny said yes!’), but at the moment, she was too wrapped up in how close Lavender was to her and the fact that she was able to completely forget about what an awful time she was having before her friend had whisked her away. 

Before she could dwell on her thoughts anymore, the tempo of the song changed and everyone started pairing off, swaying to the beat of the song. Parvati started to reach up to put her arms around Lavender, but froze as Lavender started to pull back. _Oh, shit, she knows_ , she thought, frantically thinking of a way to explain her behavior. 

“That Beauxbatons boy has been staring at you for the past five minutes. Go dance with him,” Lavender whispered and Parvati felt the relief flow through her body. 

“What about you?” she asked as Lavender started to push her towards the boy. 

“Don’t worry about me,” she said dismissively. “Even if I can’t find Seamus, I’m sure I’ll figure something out. Now go!” She gave her one last shove and before Parvati could even turn around and say something, she had disappeared back into the crowd. 

Parvati turned back and smiled at the boy as he invited her dance, reluctantly placing her arms around his neck as he placed his hands on her waist. It wasn’t like she didn’t enjoy dancing and he was a fantastic dancer, but as they slowly spun around, sometimes offering up idle conversation, she couldn’t help but search the crowd for the one person she’d rather be dancing with.


	5. My Sweetheart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ok, I tried. Lavender, why in the world would you buy that for him?”

“Do you think he’ll like it?”

Parvati lowered the Divination textbook she was reading as Lavender bounced into the dormitory and landed on her bed. “Do I think who will like what?”

Lavender gave her a look as she pulled something out of the bag she was carrying. “Ron, of course,” she said, pulling out some sort of necklace from the bag. She held it up so Parvati could see. “Do you think he’ll like it?”

Parvati had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. “What is that?” she managed to get out after a minute. Lavender frowned and looked down at the gold necklace with the words ‘My Sweetheart’ written in thick cursive. 

“A necklace,” she said. “What’s wrong with it?”

Parvati sat up, setting aside the textbook. “I mean, I guess it’s sort of, uh,” she started, trying to find the right words. Lavender looked at her expectantly and Parvati opened and closed her mouth a few times before saying, “Ok, I tried. Lavender, why in the world would you buy that for him?”

Lavender frowned again. “I thought it was cute,” she said, putting the necklace away. 

Parvati leaned forward and grabbed the necklace from her. “No, no, it is,” she said, lying through her teeth. “But do you think he’s actually going to wear it? It seems more like something you’d like to get.”

Lavender shrugged and took the necklace back, putting it back in the box. “I’m sure he will,” she said, but Parvati frowned. 

“So how are you and Ron doing?” she asked as Lavender walked over to her own bed. She had tried her best to be supportive of her friend’s relationship, but after a month or so, it had gotten more than a bit annoying.

“Oh, wonderful!” Lavender said, turning back around and sitting back down on Parvati’s bed. “We spend a ton of time together.”

“Doing…what, exactly?” Parvati prompted, cutting off whatever Lavender was going to say. 

Lavender paused and looked down, tracing patterns on Parvati’s bedspread with her finger. “Well, uh, you know,” she started and Parvati gave her a knowing look. 

“Do you know anything about him?” she questioned. “I mean, beyond the fact that he’s a good snog, because you’ve told me that one quite a bit.”

Lavender huffed, saying, “Yes, I do. I know quite a bit about him.”

Parvati rolled her eyes. “Like, what?”

“Like, uh, well,” Lavender started and Parvati gave her another look. “Why do you care so much?”

Parvati opened and closed her mouth a few times. “I just want you to be happy,” she said, stuttering over her words a bit. “And I don’t think –”

“Well, I am happy, thank you very much,” Lavender cut in and Parvati shrank back slightly at her tone. “We’re perfectly happy and there is nothing wrong with our relationship. I don’t know why you’ve been so against this from the beginning.”

Parvati bit her lip. She knew exactly why she didn’t like Lavender dating Ron, but she wasn’t about to tell her that. From the beginning she had tried to be understanding and supportive, but the constant reminder that Lavender was never going to interested in her that way was starting to become too much. 

Lavender continued to look at her with an annoyed expression and for a very brief moment, Parvati considered actually telling her the truth for once, but as soon as she opened her mouth to say it, she chickened out. “I’m sorry,” she said finally. “I’m not against you two, promise. I’m glad you’re finally with him, I mean, you’ve had a crush on him for years. It’s just, uh…” She broke off as she racked her brain, trying to think of any reason other than the truth. “That’s all you seem to talk about now. I miss just, you know, sitting around and gossiping and pigging out on Honeyduke’s chocolate.”

Lavender’s expression softened and she scooted over on the bed until she was laying next Parvati at the head. “Well, why didn’t you say that sooner?” she asked, nudging Parvati with her elbow. “From now on, less boyfriend talk and more best friend time.” Lavender jumped up from her spot suddenly and rushed across the room to rummage around in her trunk. Parvati watched as she searched and once again had the sudden urge to just blurt out how she felt, but before she did, Lavender turned back around, holding out a chunk of chocolate. “Friends til the end, remember?”

Parvati smiled and held out her hands for a piece as Lavender walked closer, pushing the thought out of her mind. “Friends til the end,” she repeated, popping the chocolate in her mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just an update: I know I said a few chapters back that this was probably going to be about 7 or 8 chapters, but now I've reworked my plan a bit and it should be longer than I originally thought! Yay!


	6. Should Have Said

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She knew she should have said something.

“I need to tell you something.”

Parvati watched as Lavender turned around, a confused look on her face. She could see that the bruises on her face were fading into an ugly yellow color and her hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail, but there was still a spark in her eye, the same one that had endured throughout the entire school year.

“What is it?” Lavender asked, watching as more people flooded into the Room of Requirement as they waited for Harry to return. Parvati opened and closed her mouth a few times, but she couldn’t find the words that she wanted to say. Lavender’s distracted expression changed into one of concern. “Parvati, what’s wrong?”

Parvati bit her lip as she tried to gather up some of her Gryffindor courage and tell Lavender what she wanted, but before she could get a word out, Harry appeared again with Luna in tow and the whole room exploded again. Like everyone else, Lavender’s attention was drawn back to Harry and Parvati mentally kicked herself for not getting it out faster. With everything that was happening around them, she knew that there was a good chance that this would be the last opportunity she had to say anything. 

A cheer went through the crowd as Harry announced that they were going to fight and everyone started pushing and shoving towards the door. Parvati and Lavender were swept up in the crowd and would have gotten separated if Lavender hadn’t grabbed her hand at the last second. 

“Whatever you wanted to say,” she started once they were out of the room, “tell it to me after, all right? When we get back safely?” Parvati was about to protest, but she stopped herself when she saw the expression on Lavender’s face.

“’Course,” she said, smiling even though she knew it wouldn’t reach her eyes. “When we get back safely.” Lavender returned her smile and pulled her into a hug. Paravti tightened her grip on her friend. As Lavender pulled back and gave her another smile before racing down to the Great Hall, Parvati couldn’t help but shake the feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong.

 

***

 

She knew she should have said something.

The second she walked into the Great Hall, she knew something was wrong. The dead bodies were lined up along the middle of the Great Hall with the injured on the raised platform where the staff table usually sat. Madame Pomfrey and a few Healers ran about trying to help whoever they could, but they could only do so much. 

Parvati hurried through the rows of the dead, trying not to look too hard at anyone. She glanced down just long enough to see if she could see the familiar flash of blonde. She was just about to look up at the raised platform when someone stepped in front of her.

“Parv, I need you to listen to me,” Padma said, drawing her sister’s attention away from the injured. “Just let me explain everything.” 

“What are you…?” Parvati started to ask, but she trailed off as she caught sight of the familiar blonde hair behind the arm of a Healer. As the Healer moved, Parvati could see Lavender lying unnervingly still, blood all over her face and across her chest. “No,” Parvati whispered and she started to move forward, but Padma put her hands on Parvati’s shoulders to keep her from going to her.

“Parvati, stop,” she said, trying to get her attention back. “Parvati, listen to me.”

“Let me see her,” Parvati said, ignoring her twin completely. “Let me go, I need to see her!” She was dimly aware of Padma saying something else, but she was too focused on trying to get to Lavender, to see for herself what had happened. Tears started to run down her face as she struggled more and she could tell that some of the people around the Hall had started to look over at her, but she didn’t care.

Padma’s grip had tightened on her arms and she felt someone else grab onto her. Together, the two of them pulled her out of the Great Hall towards the marble staircase in the entrance hall. “I just want to see her,” Parvati repeated, much quieter this time.

“Just let us explain.” Parvati turned to the voice, who she assumed was the person who had helped Padma drag her out of the hall, and saw Seamus sitting one step below her. She took a deep breath to steady herself and brushed the tears off her face.

Padma shot a look at Seamus before saying, “She’s going to live, Parv. The Healers weren’t sure at first, but I need you to understand that she is going to live.” Parvati let out a breath and nodded, relief flooding through her body. “She was fighting with some Death Eater and they both went over the side of a balcony. That werewolf–” 

“Greyback,” Seamus cut in and Parvati’s eyes flashed over to him while Padma just nodded in his direction. 

“He attacked her, but Hermione blasted him away from her and Trelawney dropped a crystal ball on his head,” Padma continued. Parvati snorted at the mental image of her Divination professor dropping crystal balls on Death Eater’s heads. Padma took that as encouragement and continued on. “She has some broken bones from her fall and Greyback got her pretty good, but it’s nothing that the Healers haven’t seen before and it’s not a full moon so…” 

Padma trailed off as tears started forming in her sister’s eyes again. Parvati tried to blink them back, but hearing about what happened caused everything she was feeling to explode at once and the next thing she knew, the tears were streaming down her face. “She’s going to be okay, Parv,” Padma said as she scooted closer to her sister and wrapped her arms around her. Parvati leaned into her as the tears started coming faster. She felt Padma stroking her hair and heard footsteps that she assumed was Seamus walking back to the Great Hall. “She’ll be okay,” Padma repeated and Parvati tried to choke back a sob. “It’s going to be okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From now on, the moments are probably going to be spaced closer together. I have a bunch planned from here on out, so hopefully I'll be able to keep this updating fairly quickly :)


	7. Move In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You really want me to come live with you?”

“Why don’t you come stay with me?”

Lavender stopped her rant midsentence and gave Parvati a shocked look. “Wha-wait, are you serious?” Parvati nodded and shifted on Lavender’s bed, trying to keep her expression as neutral as possible. She had just blurted out the offer without thinking and after Lavender’s reaction, she was starting to regret her impulsive decision.

“You really want me to come live with you?” Lavender asked again, pulling Parvati out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, of course,” she answered, pushing the hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear. “Padma just got a place closer to her job, so there’s plenty of room. And we’ve always talked about getting a flat together, so it’s not like it’s that weird.”

As Parvati finished talking, Lavender’s smile started to grow and her face lit up in a way that Parvati hadn’t seen in a long time. “Of course I’d want to live with you!” Lavender said, jumping up from her bed and already heading towards the door. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.” She rushed out the door, calling for her parents as she did so.

Parvati leaned back in her chair, pulling her knees up to her chest as she heard the voices downstairs. As she wrapped her arms around her legs, she bit her lip, not quite sure of what she had gotten herself into or if she was prepared for what it might mean.

 

***

 

“I still can’t believe you agreed to this.”

Parvati just shot Padma a look as she walked into the spare room, setting the box she was carrying on the bed. “Would you quit saying that?” she said, turning back to face her sister.

Padma leaned against the doorframe, giving Parvati a condescending look. “You seriously see nothing wrong with this?” she asked, stepping in front of Parvati as she went to leave the room.

Parvati just glared at her before trying to get around her sister again. “She’s my best friend. Why exactly is it such a big deal that she’s moving in?” Padma moved aside as Parvati brushed by her, heading down the hallway.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Parvati heard Padma say as she followed after her. Parvati groaned when she heard the tone of Padma’s voice and knew exactly what she was going to say next. “Maybe because you are hopelessly in l–”

“I think there are just two more boxes down stairs.” Parvati froze as she heard Lavender call from the door to the flat. She stopped so quickly that Padma all but ran into her, effectively cutting off anything that she was about to say. Lavender appeared around the corner, carrying a box in her arms. She slowed as she got closer to the sisters and gave them a confused look. Parvati could feel her heart start to race as she tried to tell if Lavender had heard anything that Padma was saying. “Did I interrupt something or…?”

“No, no,” Parvati said quickly, resisting the urge to look back at Padma. “We’ll grab those boxes, you can start unpacking.” Lavender gave her another confused look, but nodded, walking past them into the room. Parvati grabbed Padma and pulled her out the door, her heart still pounding.

“See, that’s what I’m talking about!” Padma said as soon as they were out of earshot. “You thought it was going to be hard keeping it secret before, now try doing it when you’re living with her all the time.”

Parvati just rolled her eyes, having recovered from Lavender almost finding out. “Yes, because I’ve never had to do that before,” she said as they continued down the stairs. “I’ve managed to keep it from her for the past five years. I think I’ll be fine as long as you don’t decide to shout it for the whole world to hear.” Padma stayed quiet for a bit after that, only the sounds of their footsteps and the various noises from the other flats echoing through the stairwell.

“Ok, so even if you continue to refuse to tell her about how you feel, you do realize that she’s not…the same as she used to be,” Padma said once they reached the last of the boxes. Parvati didn’t say anything, just grabbed the box and started back up the stairs, leaving Padma to scramble to catch back up. “I mean, from what you told me, she’s really traumatized by everything that happened to her. Isn’t that why she was living with her parents?” Parvati continued to storm up the stairs, hoping that if she ignored Padma long enough, she would stop.

“Are you sure that you can deal with all of that?” Padma asked again and Parvati whipped around, almost causing her sister to fall backwards down the stairs.

“You really think that after everything that I’ve gone through for her and had to deal with that a few nightmares and being on edge would mean that I didn’t want my best friend to move in with me?” she snapped. Padma opened and closed her mouth a few times “Look, I get that you’re worried, but I know what I’m doing, okay? So stop.”

They both stood there on the stairs for a second before Padma nodded and Parvati turned around to head back up the stairs, neither of them saying anything on the trip back. As soon as they got back to the flat, Padma set the box down just inside the door. “I’ll see you later,” she said to Parvati, glancing back as Lavender walked out of the bedroom. Padma started to head out the door again, but paused just beside her sister. “I just don’t want you to get hurt,” she whispered just loud enough for Parvati to hear before leaving.

“Is there something wrong?” Lavender asked as the door shut behind Padma. Parvati stared at the door for a second before turning to Lavender.

“No, it’s fine,” she said, but she could tell from the look on Lavender’s face that she wasn’t buying it. Parvati quickly put a smile on her face and started walking back towards Lavender’s new room. “Come on, let’s go get you unpacked.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I'm really sorry about the random absence, real life got in the way. But anyways, here is a new chapter. I'm not too happy with it but it's at least decent, so I hope at least one person enjoys it! As always, I'd love to hear what everyone thinks!


	8. First Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Actually, I left because she spent the whole date flirting with the aggressively heterosexual male waiter, but nice try."

“Parvati! You’ll never guess happened!”

Parvati looked up from the book she was reading as Lavender barged into her room, her waitressing uniform still on. “What’s wrong?” Parvati asked, sitting up and setting her book aside.

“Absolutely nothing,” Lavender answered as she jumped onto her friend’s bed. Parvati held back a sigh of relief as Lavender continued with her story. “So, you know that guy who comes in pretty much every night? The one who’s really nice to me?”

Parvati nodded and shifted so her legs were crossed in front of her, leaning back against her pillows. “Yeah, Wesley, right?” As Lavender nodded, Parvati couldn’t help but notice how her friend’s face lit up like it used to when she talked about Ron and she had a sinking feeling about what was coming next.

“He asked me out tonight!” Lavender blurted out. Parvati smiled, even though inside she felt like she was sixteen again, listening to her friend go on and on about her new boyfriend. Parvati pushed down all of those feelings as Lavender continued, seeing how much it meant to her.

“He wants to take me into Muggle London to some fancy restaurant,” Lavender said, oblivious as usual to Parvati’s feelings.

“What, were you too busy staring at him to remember the name?” Parvati teased, trying her best to keep her tone light. She must have managed it because Lavender stuck her tongue out in response.

“It’s not my fault he’s attractive,” she defended and Parvati felt herself relax as they fell into a rhythm. “Besides, he’s the first guy who’s actually been interested in me since…” She trailed off and glanced down at her hands. Parvati frowned as she sat up straighter. It had been almost two years since the battle and even though all of Lavender’s physical wounds had healed, there were moments like this where Parvati could tell just how much everything affected her.

“That’s because they’re all too stupid to see what they’re missing out on,” Parvati said firmly, scooting over on the bed so she was sitting right in front of Lavender. She put a hand on Lavender’s knee, causing her to look up. “It’s about time someone figured that out.”

Lavender smiled and Parvati couldn’t look away. For a brief moment, she considered adding _besides me_ to her sentence, but at the last second, she stopped herself like she always did. Before she could do anything she might regret, Parvati pulled her hand back and jumped off the bed.

“Alright, so when’s this date at a fancy restaurant that you can’t remember the name of?” Parvati said quickly, pausing for a second before she turned around.

“Thursday,” Lavender said. Parvati nodded and held out her hand.

“Perfect. That gives us plenty of time to find you the perfect outfit.” Lavender grinned again and took Parvati’s hand as the two girls headed into Lavender’s room, already discussing which shoes would go best with which dress.

 

***

 

“Are you sure you couldn’t have made it work?”

Parvati glanced over at her sister as she took another bite of ice cream. “I’m positive,” she answered, turning back to the television Padma had somehow gotten to work.

Padma sank down beside her on the couch, her own tub of ice cream in her hands. “I swear to god, if you left because of your thing with Lavender,” she started.

“Actually, I left because she spent the whole date flirting with the aggressively heterosexual male waiter, but nice try,” Parvati shot back, not taking her eyes off the screen. “That’s what I get for letting Seamus set me up.” She took another bite of ice cream. When Padma didn’t say anything, Parvati turned to her sister, spoon still in her mouth.

Padma was giving her a strange look and for once, Parvati had no idea what she was going to say. “Why did you pick tonight?” Padma asked and Parvati just stared at her. “I mean, it’s a Thursday, that’s a pretty weird day for a date.”

Parvati turned back to the TV and shrugged. “I had off,” she answered finally, refusing to look at her sister.

“Yeah, but you have off tomorrow, too,” Padma shot back and Parvati squirmed in her seat. “And if I remember right, that’s when Dean mentioned Seamus had planned the date. So are you sure you didn’t forget to mention something?”

“Yup,” Parvati said, looking down at her ice cream tub as she shifted on the couch.

“Okay, enough with the bullshit,” Padma said abruptly, causing Parvati to jump slightly. “We both know you went out because Lavender did.” Parvati didn’t say anything to that, just fiddled with her spoon. “Why did you switch the date tonight?” Padma continued to prod.

“Because she doesn’t know!” Parvati snapped, finally turning to look at Padma. She was gripping her spoon so tight that her knuckles had turned white, but Padma seemed unfazed by the sudden mood swing.

“Yes, Parvati, I know that, we’ve been over that more than a few times,” Padma said, rolling her eyes.

Parvati squirmed in her seat as she mumbled, “No, I mean she doesn’t know that I…that I’m, um…” Parvati tried to find the words she wanted as she watched Padma’s expression go from annoyed to confused. As soon as Parvati saw recognition cross her sister’s face, she braced herself for what was coming.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Padma shouted. “She doesn’t know that you like girls?” Parvati shook her head, twisting her bracelet around her wrist. “You’ve known her for how long? You’ve _lived_ with her for _how_ long?! And you never bothered to tell her?”

Parvati opened and closed her mouth a few times before saying, “I can’t.”

Padma scoffed and asked, “And why the hell not?”

“Because if I tell her then it’s real,” Parvati snapped. “If she knows, then I can’t take anything back and everything that I’m feeling is real and isn’t just going to pass. It’d change everything and I…I can’t risk that.” Parvati fell quiet, setting the ice cream tub off to the side. When Padma hadn’t said anything after a minute, Parvati turned to look at her. She was staring down at her hands, her own ice cream pushed away.

“I…,” Padma started, slowly looking over at Parvati. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…I just thought…”

“It’s fine,” Parvati cut in, stopping her before she said anything else. “I know that it’s stupid to think like that, but I just…” She trailed off, twisting her bracelet again.

“I get it,” Padma said quietly and when Parvati looked at her, she could tell that there was something her twin wasn’t telling her. Before she could say anything, Padma shook her head slightly and seemed to snap out of whatever she was thinking about. “Okay, enough with that. You came over here for some ice cream and movies. So that is what you’ll get.”

Parvati stared at her sister, knowing that there was something more, but the tone of Padma’s voice meant that she wasn’t going to get anything else out of her. “Alright,” Parvati said. “But only if I get to pick the movie.” She reached across the couch and grabbed for the remote in Padma’s hands, the two of them saving the conversation for a later date.


	9. A Moment of Confidence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I deserve to be happy_ , too, she thought and in that split second, she finally decided to do what she should have done years ago.

“So can you come or not?” Lavender asked and Parvati was overwhelmed by the excitement she could hear in her friend’s voice. 

She shifted the phone on her shoulder, the cord pulled as far as she could to still reach the sink. “I’m not sure if I can get off,” she said quietly, throwing a glance back towards the bar where her boss was sitting. 

“Please, I need you to be here,” Lavender begged and Parvati could picture her bouncing on her heels in their kitchen as she spoke. “I have something important I need to tell you.”

Parvati froze as she heard someone walk into the kitchen, but relaxed when she realized it was Allison, one of the other bartenders. “And you can’t tell me over the phone because…?” she asked, pulling the various glasses out of the sink to try them. 

“Jus-just promise me that you’ll meet us at Wingardium in an hour, okay?” Lavender said.

“Okay, but…” Parvati started, but trailed off as Allison put a hand on her shoulder. 

“Perfect, I’ll see you then,” Lavender said and before Parvati could get another word in, she hung up. Parvati looked down at the phone, frowning as she stepped across the room to hang it back up.

When she turned back around, Allison was drying off the rest of the glasses she left in the sink. “Kettlemere was asking for you,” she said, stacking the glasses on a tray to bring to the bar. “Were you talking to Lavender again?”

Parvati rubbed the back of her neck as she felt her face start to heat up. “Um, yeah,” she said, grabbing the tray from Allison. “She wants me to meet her and Wesley in an hour, but—”

“I can cover for you if you need me to,” Allison said immediately, following after Parvati as they walked back into the main bar area. 

Keeping her voice low so as not to attract their boss’s attention, Parvati said, “Are you sure? I really don’t have to go.”

Allison waved her off as she started stacking the glasses behind the counter. “I can use the extra hours,” she said, straightening up as she stowed the tray. When she turned back, there was a smile on her face that Parvati wasn’t quite sure she liked. “Besides, you never know what that conversation might lead to.” Parvati rolled her eyes as Allison headed down the bar to wait on a couple of customers. Despite her coworker’s optimistic outlook, Parvati couldn’t think of a single reason that wasn’t going to end badly.

  
***

  
“You’re here!”

Parvati braced herself as Lavender flew over to pull her into a hug. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she said, giving a smile to Wesley who was standing a few feet away. Before Lavender cold get going on one of her emotional rants, she quickly continued, “So what’s so important that you had to tell me in person?”

Instead of answering her, Lavender glanced back at Wesley, a goofy smile on her face. Parvati looked between them to try and get an answer, but both of them were ignoring her in favor of staring at each other. Her stomach was twisting into knots as she waited, her mind running though every possible situation.

Just as she thought she might explode with anticipation, Lavender shoved her left hand forward. “He proposed!” she squealed.

Over the years, there had been more than a few times when Parvati thought her heart had been broken. When she first realized her feelings for Lavender. When Lavender started dating Ron. When she thought that she had lost Lavender forever after the Battle. Those were nothing compared to the heart ache she experienced the moment she realized the girl she was in love with would forever be with someone that was not her.

Her throat tightened up and she resisted the urge to gasp for breath. Her hands were clenched in fists under the table, so hard that she could feel even her short nails digging into her skin. She wanted nothing more than to get up and run to a place no one would find her and cry for the rest of her life. How could I have not seen this coming?, she thought as she tried to blink back the tears she knew were forming. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get her mind to focus on anything besides the diamond ring sitting on Lavender’s finger.

After a minute, she finally got her thoughts together enough to met Lavender’s eyes again. When she saw the slightly confused and hurt look on her face, she quickly plastered her best cheery smile on her face, grabbing Lavender’s hand and pulling it closer like she wanted to get a better look at the ring. “Lavender, that’s amazing!” she squealed, feeling her heart break even more with every word she spoke. “When did this happen? How did it happen? You have to tell me everything!” she rambled, struggling to keep her voice steady and even.

As she had expected, the questions gave Lavender an opening to begin gushing about how romantic it was and how perfect and she had no idea it was coming as they went over to the table and sat down. In all honesty, Parvati couldn’t remember any details of it. Her mind was already wandering and she knew from experience that she only had to nod and look interested and that would be enough to convince Lavender she was listening. _You missed your chance_ , a voice in the back of her mind who sounded an awful lot like Padma said. _She’s with him now. You blew it_. Feeling a single tear start to run down her check, Parvati quickly reached up to brush it away, not wanting to spoil the moment for Lavender. 

_You made your choice,_ the voice said again. _Now you have to live with the consequences._ Parvati shook her head to try and clear her thoughts, attempting to focus on what Lavender was saying. She watched as her face it up every time she turned to look at Wesley and how she couldn’t stop smiling as she continued to go on about the engagement. As happy as she was that Lavender seemed so content, there was a nagging thought in the back of her mind. 

_I deserve to be happy, too_ , she thought and in that split second, she finally decided to do what she should have done years ago.

“Lavender, can I talk to you for a minute?” Parvati said suddenly, interrupting whatever conversation was going on between Lavender and Wesley. Lavender stopped mid word and turned to face her.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” she said, throwing a glance at Wesley. 

“In private,” Parvati added on, twisting the bracelet Lavender had give her all those years ago around her wrist. Lavender nodded and shot another look at her now-fiance before standing up. Parvati followed suit and made her way out of the diner, not looking back to see if Lavender was following. She shoved open the door and immediately crossed her arms across her chest as the wind hit her. 

“Okay, so what did you need to talk about?” Lavender asked once she was outside. 

“You can’t marry him,” Parvati said the second Lavender stopped talking. She could feel her heart pounding as she waited for Lavender to respond. 

“What?” she heard Lavender say quietly.

Parvati took a deep breath and turned around, looking down at the ground to avoid meeting Lavender’s gaze and backing down. “You can’t marry Wesley,” she said, her fingers immediately finding the bracelet on her wrist again. “I can’t let you marry him.” A look of confusion passed over Lavender’s face as she tried to process everything. 

“What are you talking about?” Lavender said, stepping closer to her friend and pushing some of her hair out of her face.

Parvati looked down again, shifting her feet. “He’s not the right one for you,” Parvati mumbled. She could feel her confidence faltering the longer she was talking, but she couldn’t stand watching Lavender with Wesley any longer. “I think-”

“Oh, really?” Lavender interrupted, starting to get defensive. Parvati looked down again, knowing that it was hard to stop her once she got started. “Who, then, would you suggest I marry instead?” Parvati looked back up and, like every other time she had tried to tell Lavender the truth, the words died in her throat. She could feel tears start to form behind her eyes and knew if she continued, she wouldn’t be able to hold them back. 

“Parvati, I know you don’t like how fast we’re moving with everything,” Lavender continued and Parvati just stared as her blonde hair blew in the wind that wouldn’t let up, “but he loves me. It’s not like anyone else is breaking down our door to date me.”

Parvati turned around, dropping her arms to her side. “You always say that,” she said, frustration slipping into her voice. “You act like no one could love you because of some stupid scars on your face. They’re just scars, Lavender, it doesn’t mean that someone can’t love you.”

“Yeah, because there have just been so many people confessing their undying love to me after it happened,” Lavender spat and Parvati had to resist the urge to flinch at the venom in her voice. “Please, name one other person besides Wesley that would ever lo—”

“Me!” Parvati blurted out, spinning around to face her. “ _I_ love you, Lavender.” She saw various emotions flash across her friend’s face until it finally settled on confusion. Lavender opened her mouth, but Parvati cut her off, knowing what she was going to say. “I love you as more than a friend.”

Lavender’s eyes widened and Parvati saw her take a small step back. “You what?” she whispered and if Parvati hadn’t been so focused on what she was saying, it would have been lost in the wind. 

Parvati knew the moment the words had left her mouth that she wanted to snatch them back. It had taken her over six years to work up the courage to tell Lavender how she felt and now that she had finally done it, she wanted nothing more than to run and hide. Everything in her was screaming to back out and say nothing, but she took a deep breath before continuing. “I love you, Lavender. And I have for a long time.” She paused, trying to gauge Lavender’s feelings from her facial expressions, but for the first time since they were eleven, she had no clue what her best friend was thinking. “I never told you because I didn’t want anything to change between us. I almost said something before the Battle, but we were interrupted and then everything happened and I just couldn’t put this on you too, but I can’t just sit back anymore.” She had to stop to take a breath.  


She knew she was rambling, but she didn’t know how long Lavender would let her go on and she wanted to get everything out at once. “Seeing you with Wesley…I tried, Lav, I really tried to be okay with it, but hearing that you two are engaged…” Parvati broke off again, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill over. In the back of her mind, she knew it was strange that Lavender hadn’t spoken yet, but she didn’t want to stop and lose her courage. “Lavender, I can’t let you marry him. Not when I feel this way about you.” 

Parvati faltered at the end, the brief moment of confidence entirely gone. Her throat was tight with how hard she was holding back her tears and her fingernails were digging into her hand again. The silence between stretched on longer and longer, the only noise was the wind rattling the windows of the restaurant behind them. After a moment, Lavender glanced up briefly and Parvati held her breath, waiting to hear what she would say.

“I think you should go,” Lavender whispered, looking down at the ground. 

Each word Lavender spoke felt like a stab in the chest. Over the past six years, Parvati had thought of how she was going to tell Lavender. It changed almost every time she considered it. Sometimes it was a huge reveal in front of all of their friends when she was feeling confident. Other times it was just with Lavender, in their flat. But the one thing that never changed was Lavender’s reaction. For all that she had doubted her own feelings over the years, she had never dreamed that Lavender might not be okay with it after all. 

Parvati felt the tears continuing to run down her cheeks, the wind tearing at her braid. Lavender had said nothing more, just staring down at the ground, her posture as stiff and tense as she had ever seen it. “Lavender,” Parvati said, reaching out for her arm. 

Lavender pulled away, not looking her in the eye. “I need some time to think” was all she said, directing her comment to the ground. Parvati drew her hand back, letting it hang limply at her side. Lavender half turned as if to go back into the restaurant, pausing before she took a step. For a brief moment, Parvati thought that maybe she hadn’t screwed everything up, maybe she hadn’t made the biggest mistake of her life, but as soon as she thought that, Lavender turned away without staying a word, going back into the restaurant.

All of the tears that she had been holding back came flooding out, the wind stinging her cheeks as it whipped around. Without even thinking, Parvati turned on the spot, remembering at the last second to pick a destination. She startled a cat as she landed in the alley, sending it running under the trash bags stacked in the corner. Half blinded by the tears, she stumbled out of the alley and somehow made it to the door of the building her sister lived in, slipping in as someone came out. She wasn’t sure how she made it up all three flights of stairs and down the hall to the right flat, but the next thing she knew, she was knocking on the door, trying to hold the sobs back.

“I’m kind of busy, can you come back later?” Padma asked as she pulled the door open, but the moment she saw who it was, she stopped.

Parvati tried to bite her lip to keep from sobbing, but it didn’t work. “I-I told h-her,” she choked out, wrapping her arms around herself as tightly as she could. “I t-told her and s-she—”

Padma reached forward and pulled her into a hug, shutting the door behind them. The second she felt her sister’s arms around her, Parvati broke down, the sobs she had been holding back racking her body. At one point, she was aware that she had made it to the couch, but she was too busy clinging onto her sister’s shirt, all of the feelings she had let bottle up over the years spilling out at once. “Shh,” she heard Padma saying over her sobs, her hand stroking the back of her head. “Shh, it’ll be okay. You’ll be okay.” 

_No. No, I won’t._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _It's been eighty-four years..._
> 
> But actually. I am so sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. I realized about three days ago that I had it mostly written and I figured I should update relatively soon. It's not quite as polished as I wanted it to be, but I actually did start crying while writing this, so I left it like it was. 
> 
> I swear that the next update will come much, much sooner, mostly because I feel awful leaving you guys with this, but it felt right to end it right here. As always, please let me know what you think!


End file.
